


In Your Face

by Beltenebra, Halrloprillalar (prillalar), Icie, mousapelli



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: F/F, F/M, Genderswap, M/M, POV Alternating, Training Camp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-16
Updated: 2016-11-16
Packaged: 2018-08-31 07:48:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8570371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beltenebra/pseuds/Beltenebra, https://archiveofourown.org/users/prillalar/pseuds/Halrloprillalar, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Icie/pseuds/Icie, https://archiveofourown.org/users/mousapelli/pseuds/mousapelli
Summary: Much to Tsukishima's dismay, what happens at training camp never stays at training camp. Four ways Kuroo and Tsukishima got together, and why they are all Kuroo's fault.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Main Round 1 of the 2016 SASO event. Sections in this entry were written by Mousapelli, Halroprillalar, and Joo. 
> 
> Original entry including art by Beltenebra can be found at http://blocknroll2016.tumblr.com/ .

1.

 

When Kuroo tells the story about how they got together, it’s simple. Love at first sight cupid’s arrow to the heart kissing in the infirmary simple. 

“If by cupid’s arrow, you mean a spiked ball,” Tsukishima usually interrupts, rolling his eyes. “And by heart you mean my face.”

“It was training camp,” Kuroo always answers, like that explains everything. 

It does explain it for Kuroo, because training camp is always like that. It’s loud and fast and exhausting and exhilarating. It’s too many guys in your space until you either bond tightly together or kill each other, it’s who tells the best ghost story and who brought the dirty magazines, it’s at least one guy who tries to jack off when he thinks everyone’s asleep. It’s hills and flying falls and jammed fingers and infirmary trips. It’s a couple senpai who might teach you to smoke, and maybe one who teaches you how to kiss. 

This one wouldn’t have been any different, except for the thing with Tsukishima. 

He’d been showing off, okay, and nailed Tsukishima right in the face with a spike, but that wasn’t that unusual. He’d thought Tsukishima had deserved it, a little, because Kuroo had been telling him for two days to keep his fucking arms closer together. 

But when Kuroo was kneeling over Tsukishima to make sure he was alive and Tsukishima opened his eyes to glare, Kuroo felt like he was the one who’d been knocked down. Kuroo remembers touching the soft, hot skin of Tsukishima’s nose with his fingers to see if it was broken and Tsukishima’s wince. He remembers the cuteness of the spreading bruise under Tsukishima’s glasses, and that first kiss, how he’d thought Tsukishima might break his nose instead, but that hadn’t stopped him trying. 

He remembers thinking that he wanted Tsukishima to like volleyball almost as much as he wanted Tsukishima to like him, no matter how he had to make that happen. He still feels that way. 

“So it’s a good thing I hit you in the face,” Kuroo always concludes. “But I’m glad I didn’t break your nose, so you can still make that face at me.”

“It’s all your fault,” Tsukishima always agrees. 

 

2\. 

 

Kuroo hadn’t really gotten it when Taketora and Inuoka were going on about Karasuno’s sexy, unattainable manager the entire bus ride home. He got that she was a beauty and cool-type and all, but not the way they wanted her to lecture them, so much. But when Karasuno showed up to training camp with a second manager, suddenly Kuroo understood much more deeply. 

She was tall, wore practical glasses, and everything about her was sharp, from her elbows to her nose to the way she looked across the gym dismissively. When her eyes slid over Kuroo, he didn’t hear a word Kenma said until Yaku punched him in the arm. Kuroo wouldn’t have minded a lecture from her, definitely. 

He got one when he was chasing after a failed receive (“Dammit, Lev, stop flailing your hands!”), eyes focused on the ball, and stopped just short of slamming into her just after fisting the ball backwards. 

“Sorry!” Kuroo said. He barely registered the groans of his teammates behind him, Yaku snapping at Lev again. 

“Watch where you’re going,” she snapped, arms crossed, voice cold. Shit, why was that sexy?

“Over here, Tsukishima-san!” Karasuno’s other manager called. Tsukishima gave Kuroo a warning glare before turning her back, and Kuroo didn’t mind watching her walk away one bit. 

When Kuroo turned around, Kenma and Yaku both eyed him, and Taketora was sparkling with jealousy. Lev just looked puzzled. 

“Her name’s Tsukishima,” Kuroo informed them, grinning. Kenma raised an eyebrow and Yaku slapped a hand to his forehead. 

(“We have to do something about that,” Yaku hissed. “He’s bad enough normally.”

“Mmhmm,” Kenma said.)

+

Kuroo was loitering at the door of Gymnasium 3 during free practice, looking so casual, when Tsukishima came down the walkway.

“Hey!” Kuroo called, leaning out. Tsukishima paused, looking his way. “Heading back already?”

“I’m going to dinner,” she told him, letting the _clearly_ hang in the air. 

“Uh-huh. I’m Kuroo Tetsurou, Nekoma’s captain, by the way.”

“I know who you are,” Tsukishima informed him. “If you don’t mind--”

“HEY,” Bokuto hollered, leaning out beside Kuroo. “HEY, we need somebody to--OH it’s you! Hey, can you toss for us a bit? Akaashi just told me to eat the ball.”

Tsukishima didn’t need any instruction, which was interesting, flipping smooth, high tosses to Bokuto. Kuroo wasn’t a shining example of a blocker for Lev, busy picturing Tsukishima in Karasuno’s girl uniform, all form-fitting black and bare arms. 

“How do you guys keep beating us?” Tsukishima wanted to know, hand on one hip and eyebrow arched. 

(“See, Akaashi, I told you!” Bokuto hissed, watching proudly while Tsukishima and Kuroo were wrapped up in arguing with each other. “They’re gonna definitely hook up now, y’know? I’m like a training camp super cupid!”

“That’s exactly what you are,” Akaashi said.) 

+

So maybe he was showing off when Tsukishima came over during their practice set to pick up Karasuno’s water bottles. She paused at the sideline to watch, faintly critical; by chance Kenma tossed Kuroo a spike to slam through Hinata and Tanaka’s honestly quite shitty block. He just wanted to make Tsukishima look up at him and reluctantly admire his technique. 

He was not expecting his spike to deflect off Hinata and right into her practical glasses, hard enough to tumble her onto her back. 

“AAAAAAAAH!” Tanaka and Hinata screamed, like their manager had been murdered, and Kuroo dashed over to kneel beside them, peering over her. 

_This is how Prince Charming felt when he woke up Sleeping Beauty_ , Kuroo thought as Tsukishima opened her eyes and blinked, except Sleeping Beauty probably hadn’t looked into her Prince’s eyes and said, “You did that on purpose, you asshole.”

Tsukishima’s eyes darted to Kuroo more than once as she gave terse answers to Ukai’s concussion questions through the tissues she was holding to her nose. 

“You seem all right,” Ukai sighed in relief. “But get checked to be on the safe side.”

“I can piggyback you to the infirmary?” Kuroo offered, ignoring the way Hinata and Nishinoya suddenly set on fire beside him. 

“Get bent,” Tsukishima said, clear despite the tissues, but she couldn’t stop Kuroo escorting her.

(“That...didn’t go as planned,” Yaku grumbled. He glanced down at Kenma’s impassive face. “Right?”

“It kind of did,” Kenma said. Yaku almost demanded to know what Kenma thought the plan had been, but decided he didn’t need more proof that his team wanted to drive him insane.) 

“So you played, right?” Kuroo asked on the way to the infirmary. Tsukishima told him yes, in middle school, but she dropped it to focus on school. She only became manager because her childhood friend was on the team, and they couldn’t find anybody to replace their third year manager. “I bet you were good, you’re so tall.”

Tsukishima shrugged, careless. Kuroo wondered how to get the rest of the story out of her. He hung around while the nurse checked Tsukishima, ignoring Tsukishima’s pointed looks. The nurse pronounced Tsukishima okay and then left them alone to go deal with the Shinzen kid who’d jammed a couple fingers. 

“Does it hurt?” Kuroo asked, sitting on the bed beside Tsukishima. It was bruising already just where Tsukishima’s glasses dug into the side of her nose. It was cute, the little injury on her otherwise no-nonsense face.

“If you say ‘when I fell from heaven…’” Tsukishima’s jaw tightened when Kuroo cupped her cheek, brushing his thumb gently between the rising bruise and Tsukishima’s glasses. “Stop that.”

“If I kiss you, will you kill me?” Kuroo asked. “I’m not saying that’s a deal breaker.”

Tsukishima crossed her arms protectively, her eyes cutting to the side. “If you bet Mohawk guy you could get to B, you lost your money.”

“What if I bet you instead?” Kuroo asked. He slid in closer, their thighs pressing together. “What do I get if I win?”

“You get to B, stupid,” Tsukishima answered. Kuroo gripped her beautiful sharp elbows and kissed her, and she didn’t kill him. She’d only kill him if he told anybody, she said. 

“Tomorrow I’ll show you my awesome power as Nekoma’s captain, so definitely watch!”

“No thanks,” Tsukishima said, re-doing her braid over her shoulder where Kuroo had threaded his fingers through it. “I’ve seen enough of that already. With my face.”

“It’s cute when you glare at me.” Kuroo laughed at the way her eyes narrowed. “Yeah, exactly like that.”

 

3\. 

 

He had gotten teased so often that he’d become numb to it, but this time he had the misfortune of having Hinata around to hear it, so naturally the entire Karasuno team, boys and girls, heard about this little incident.

Reactions ranged from displaced awe (“You…you had the Nekoma captain… _talk_ to you…” Kageyama hissed), dismissive (“You’re a pretty handsome guy, I wouldn’t wonder why,” Suga-san said with Yamaguchi nodding furiously at the back), disbelief (“I can’t believe you not only scored a Nekoma girl but the _captain_ , Tsukishima you little….shit…..how did you even do that arghh,” Nishinoya and Tanaka chorused in their curses) and disproportionately normal (From Daichi, “It was a great bonding moment, Tsukishima, now we have to play their girls’ team out of respect for both their team captains”).

Tsukishima was feeling a little more than sour by the time they wrapped up their practice for the night. First of all, it wasn’t his idea to make this training camp a joint one with the girls, and second of all, did they forget that he was the one who was approached? Hinata must have distorted the story somewhat to make it seem like it was Tsukishima who deliberately made a move on Nekoma girls’ team’s captain.

He didn’t even know her name until he returned to the court.

Even then he must admit that there was something unforgettable about the encounter. It wasn’t the first time that any senior girl had mistaken him to be an older transfer student, but the way Kuroo-san was so certain that she was right was somewhat refreshing. She didn’t even look like the usual girls he saw—she seemed to take pride in her unkemptness and had found the secret to matching it with her athleticism that it made her look almost arresting. It didn’t feel right for him to be thinking about all these things at night, but his mind was his own, at least they could let him have this.

As much as Tsukishima somewhat looked forward to playing her, he also hated that he was almost definitely going to be enduring wolf whistles from his teammates.

+

Tsukishima didn’t get enough sleep the night before, so naturally, he was absolutely murderous by the time the breakfast came. Sugawara suggested coffee, but Tsukishima heard it made your heart palpitate, so he refused. It was all because of that stupid teasing from yesterday.

“Hey,” Kuroo was leaning over Tsukishima suddenly, hands flat on the table. When Tsukishima looked up, Kuroo’s grin made Tsukishima’s murderous impulses double. “Free practice tonight, my team versus yours. You won’t lose to a bunch of girls, right?”

“Girls who went to nationals,” Tsukishima growled, which was more than Karasuno had done in years. Before he could refuse clearly Tanaka and Nishinoya were already on their feet, declaring war. 

“Gymnasium 3,” Kuroo directed, sauntering away even more self-satisfied than she’d looked yesterday. Tsukishima wondered if Sugawara still had that coffee so he could drown himself in it. 

+

It didn’t surprise him that he was playing in the same position as Kuroo. At this point of time it wouldn’t even surprise him if they had the same birthday, liked the same food, watched the same TV programme, listened to the same music, had been born in the same hospital—but that couldn’t be possible. He was Miyagi-born-and-bred, and she was all around a Tokyo city girl.

“Tsukishima, slam it!” An order from Daichi slapped him out of his thoughts and he immediately scrambled to find the ball and mindlessly spiked it as hard as he could, perhaps making up for the few seconds of inattention. But the ball didn’t end up on the floor and suddenly he remembered that they were playing a girls’ team—so instead of slamming to the floor, a tall, foreign-looking player from Nekoma attempted a careless block but didn’t even manage to touch the ball and it flew straight to hit the captain squarely in the face. She fell down at once from the impact and Tsukishima thought he saw some trickles of blood.

“Kuroo-san!!” the foreign-looking tall girl shrieked. “Somebody help! She’s going to die of blood loss!”

“Stop yelling, Lev!” the tiny libero pushed the tall girl aside. For a moment Tsukishima wondered if this Lev girl could be taller than he was, and what an advantage that would be if she was and what a misfortune for them to be stuck with Hinata instead.

Tsukishima rushed to the other side of the net but stayed a distance away. There were enough people surrounding Nekoma’s fallen captain and he would need to bide his time for the crowd to disperse before he could apologize.

The whistle blew for a short timeout and Shimizu went to help to stop Kuroo’s bleeding and assess if they would need to take her to the ambulance. “It was unfortunate that today is a Saturday and the school infirmary isn’t open, but Takeda-sensei has contacted the school nurse, so she will be coming back for you.”

It was around an hour after that that Tsukishima managed to be alone with Kuroo and immediately apologized, just to be interrupted by her.

“Take me out on a date,” she said.

“What?” Tsukishima thought they had established that she was two years older, so something like this couldn’t be possible and they would make some interesting gossip and Kuroo should get someone her age instead of a high school freshman—

“It’s a friendship date, and you owe me one.”

Tsukishima realized that there was no way to get himself out.

“Actually you owe me a lot, mind carrying me to the infirmary?”

He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and was going to refuse her because she got hit in the face, not kicked in the legs but then he saw Daichi’s trademark threatening smile and sighed.

“Fine.” He knelt down for her to climb up on his back and quickly headed to the infirmary.

“You’re such a great guy, Tsukki,” she said, almost nuzzling his neck.

Tsukishima was lucky that nobody saw how red his face turned.

He was even luckier nobody saw them in the infirmary twenty minutes later, Kuroo pinning Tsukishima’s wrists down and kissing him breathless despite Kuroo being the one with the gauze stuck up her nose. 

(Ukai shut the infirmary door so they wouldn’t hear him. Training camp never changed. He’d just lean against the wall, he thought. A few more minutes wouldn’t hurt anything.)

 

4\. 

 

"Stop staring at my boobs." Kuroo gave Bokuto a shove.

"It's your sports bra." Bokuto bent over, her face nearly against Kuroo's chest. "They don't even move when you spike."

Tsukishima sat down and pulled off her knee pads. 

"If I had a pair like that," Bokuto said, "I'd never wear a bra, just to distract my opponents."

Kuroo grinned. "I'd rather distract my opponents with my brilliant play. Right, Tsukki?"

"Thanks for your hard work," Tsukishima said and walked out the door.

+

Tsukishima slid under the water. Hinata broke off arguing with Noya and parked herself next to Tsukishima. "How come you got to practise with the captains and I didn't?"

"They probably didn't see you there." 

"Hey!" Hinata splashed water.

"Hina-chan!" Yamaguchi took Hinata's arm. "Don't cause trouble."

Tsukishima looked across the room so she wouldn't have to see Yamaguchi's _please don't fight, Tsukki_ look. There was Kuroo, her back towards the bath, washing her hair. Tsukishima touched the knot of hair on top of her own head as the shampoo slid down Kuroo's back, then away in a sluice of water. Under the curve of Kuroo's arm, Tsukishima could just see the swell of her breasts.

"Aww, come on," Hinata said. "She started it."

Tsukishima closed her eyes, counted to twenty. When she opened them, Kuroo was settling into the bath, her grin and glance flicking over to Tsukishima.

Tsukishima grabbed her towel, swiped the water off her glasses, climbed out of the bath.

"Tsukki?" Yamaguchi called.

Tsukishima didn't look back.

(“Suga-san?” Yamaguchi asked. “Um, about Tsukki and…”

Sugawara followed Yamaguchi’s glance to Kuroo and smiled. “Don’t worry, we’ll help them out.”)

+

"You're with us again." Kuroo leaned in the doorway, her hair a spiky silhouette against the rectangle of light. Were there no blowdryers in Tokyo?

Tsukishima paused, looking out over the dim path, then turned and stepped up into the gym. Kuroo grinned and reached for Tsukishima's shoulder.

Hinata darted between them and Tsukishima took a step back. "I'm playing too," Hinata said.

"More fodder!" Bokuto called and divided them up for three-on-three.

"Turn your body more on the block." Kuroo took Tsukishima's shoulders and positioned her by the net. "Then reach like this." She stretched Tsukishima's arm above her head, fingers around her wrist, breath in her ear. If Tsukishima leaned back a centimetre, Kuroo's breasts would press into her back.

"Are we playing?" Bokuto said. "Or is this ballet class?" She bounced the ball, then did a clumsy pirouette.

Tsukishima pulled away. "Got it."

They blocked the next three of Bokuto's spikes.

+

"Come with me." Kuroo took Tsukishima's empty dinner tray and pushed it into the cart.

"It's too late to practice." Tsukishima pulled the elastic off her wrist and and bundled up her hair.

"Not for this." Kuroo led Tsukishima down a back hallway, then into a small room.

"This is a storage closet." Cleaning supplies, mostly, a can of green paint on the shelf, the scent of ammonia in the air.

"It's training camp," Kuroo said. She ran one hand through her hair and it spiked out more than ever. It was probably rough, tacky with wax. She took a step closer to Tsukishima. "It's traditional."

"When they warned me about you," Tsukishima said, "I thought they meant your spikes."

"Those too." Kuroo put both hands on the shelf, enclosing Tsukishima, but not touching her. Then she leaned in, eyes open, and kissed Tsukishima.

Her mouth was warm and her lips pushed at Tsukishima's. She put one hand on Tsukishima's neck, fingers sliding through the base of Tsukishima's ponytail.

Tsukishima closed her eyes. She opened her mouth a little and felt the wet of Kuroo's lips, a chase of heat over all her skin. Kuroo's thumb stroked the back of her neck and Tsukishima curled her nails hard into her palms.

Kuroo pressed her cheek against Tsukishima's. "I wasn't sure you'd be okay with this."

"It's payment, right?" Tsukishima dug her nails deeper. "For your help."

Kuroo stepped back, her arms dropping to her sides. "It's not." She bumped into a stack of buckets and they clattered to the floor. "It's really not."

The door banged behind her. Tsukishima pulled the elastic out of her hair. She stood listening to the hum of the fluorescent light and rubbing her mouth.

+

Ten minutes on the court and Nekoma was already six points ahead. The ball slammed past Tsukishima before she could even get an arm on it.

"Tsukishima, pay attention!" Tanaka yelled.

Tsukishima shrugged. All game her eyes kept sliding over to Kuroo, to her stupid hair, her stupid grin.

She looked at the player getting ready to serve, tried to concentrate, but she couldn't help glancing over again. Kuroo was looking back at her, no trace of a grin on her face.

By the time they had both rotated to the front, Tsukishima had been yelled at by everyone on her side of the court. She glared through the net, past Kuroo's stupid right ear, past Kuroo's stupid hands and eyes and everything. Just everything.

The slap of the Nekoma's serve. _Stupid._ The smack of the receive behind her. _Stupid._ A surge of heat inside of her, her own voice calling for the toss. Jumping for the ball, Kuroo jumping for the block, that really _was_ a great sports bra, both of them flying.

And Tsukishima spiked the ball right into Kuroo's stupid face.

Kuroo fell back onto the floor, blood running from her nose, her eyes locked with Tsukishima's. 

"Come on." Yaku pulled Kuroo to her feet. "Somebody take her to the infirmary."

Tsukishima took a deep breath. "I'll do it."

(“It’ll be fine,” Sugawara told Yamaguchi as Tsukishima yanked Kuroo through the gym doors. “Probably.”

“That was amazing how you got him to spike right there, though, senpai,” Yamaguchi said. 

“Uh, right, yes.” Sugawara gave Yamaguchi a thumbs up. “That was definitely how I planned it.”)

+

"Feeling better?" Kuroo said through a wad of paper towels.

"I'm sorry." Tsukishima took Kuroo's arm and steered her out the gym doors. "I...I'm sorry."

"You should be. Damn, this hurts."

In the infirmary, the nurse tweaked Kuroo's nose, then packed it with gauze. "It's not broken. But you should rest here until the afternoon." And she left them alone.

"You should get back to the game." Kuroo sat down on the bed.

Tsukishima looked at Kuroo, her nose misshapen with the gauze, then at the wall behind her. "I'm sorry."

"Yes, you already said that."

"No, I'm--" Tsukishima turned away. "Forget it."

"Oh, you are?" Kuroo's hand closed around Tsukishima's wrist. She just held it for a moment while Tsukishima's pulse beat in her throat, beat under Kuroo's fingers. Then Kuroo pulled her down.

They rolled together, almost off the bed, and Tsukishima kissed Kuroo, hands in her stupid hair, tongue in her stupid mouth, until Kuroo had to stop to breathe. 

They were tangled on the bed, Kuroo's leg between Tsukishima's knees, Kuroo's hand moving down Tsukishima's back as she gulped air. Tsukishima gulped a breath of her own, then moved her hand under Kuroo's arm and cupped her breast. It _was_ pretty distracting.

Kuroo laughed against Tsukishima's cheek. "Next time, I won't wear the sports bra."

 

5

 

When Kuroo tells the story about how they got together, it’s simple. Love at first sight cupid’s arrow to the heart kissing in the infirmary simple. 

“If by cupid’s arrow, you mean a spiked ball,” Tsukishima usually interrupts, rolling his eyes. “And by heart you mean my face.”

“It was training camp,” Kuroo always answers, like that explains everything. 

When Tsukishima tells the story, a much rarer occurrence, it’s less about love at first sight and more about the possible concussion from Kuroo’s spike, poor judgement from sleep deprivation, and Stockholm Syndrome from being detained in Gymnasium 3 every night. Tsukishima blames the kissing especially on Stockholm Syndrome. 

But when he thinks about it in his own head, he remembers Kuroo staring down at him, wide-eyed with worry, and the uncertain touch of Kuroo’s fingers against his nose. He remembers the coolness of the infirmary sheets, Kuroo’s first cautious kiss, and how the kisses after that made his bruised nose ache, breaking away to gasp for air because his nose was full of gauze. 

Tsukishima remembers thinking that nobody else could ever be so incredibly aggravating and look so good doing it. He still feels that way. 

“So it’s a good thing I hit you in the face,” Kuroo always concludes. “But I’m glad I didn’t break your nose, so you can still make that face at me.”

“It’s all your fault,” Tsukishima always agrees. 

(Unless it’s Yamaguchi, Sugawara, Kenma, Yaku, Bokuto, or Ukai telling the story.)


End file.
